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Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

About the Creators:

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu's extensive work includes the bestselling "Astonishing X-Men" for Marvel Comics, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to writing full-time, Liu was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Sana Takeda is an illustrator and comic book artist who was born in Niigata, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. At age 20 she started out as a 3D CGI designer for SEGA, a Japanese video game company, and became a freelance artist when she was 25. She is still an artist, and has worked on titles such as "X-23" and "Ms. Marvel" for Marvel Comics, and is an illustrator for trading card games in Japan.

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up—In the aftermath of a terrible war, tension still exists between the humans and the animal-hybrids, Arcanics. Surviving Arcanics are sold as slaves by the Federation of Man and even experimented on by the Cumaea, powerful human witch-nuns who mine the precious life-giving Lilium produced from the bodies of captured Arcanics. Maika Halfwolf, a 17-year-old Arcanic, survived the war but at a devastating cost. Looking for revenge, she allows herself to be sold as a slave to infiltrate the Cumaean stronghold in Zamora. Once there, she uses her newly developed, terrible power to escape, free the captured Arcanics, and brutally attack the witch-nuns. She also steals a fragment of an ancient and powerful mask and murders a Cumaean elder who knows secrets from Maika's past. On the run from the Cumaea, the humans, and her own people, Maika must rely on herself and very few allies if she is to discover the secret of why her mother was murdered and, more important, who she is and what awful power she possesses. Collecting the first five issues of the popular comic, this is a beautifully written and complex book. Intricate and detailed, with a definite manga influence, Takeda's artwork creates a lush and dangerous world for Liu's equally dangerous characters. The work is infused with feminist themes; almost all of the characters are strong—and deadly—women. VERDICT Intended for mature audiences owing to the violence and nudity and filled with rage and barely contained fury, this is a book that will be wildly embraced by all fans of graphic literature.—Erik Knapp,Davis Library, Plano, TX

Review

"This is stuff that demands to be explained and dares you to turn the page." -The Rainbow Hub

NPR -- Gaudy beauty and extravagant horror twine around each other, as elegant as their subjects' sinuous hair and garments, in the remarkable comic Monstress. Liu's accomplishment is impressive. She's created characters who feel larger than life, but whose motivations and values are almost always obscure.

VOX.COM -- "feels like a battle cry."

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER --“world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL - Gr 9 Up-In the aftermath of a terrible war, tension still exists between the humans and the animal-hybrids, Arcanics. Surviving Arcanics are sold as slaves by the Federation of Man and even experimented on by the Cumaea, powerful human witch-nuns who mine the precious life-giving Lilium produced from the bodies of captured Arcanics. Maika Halfwolf, a 17-year-old Arcanic, survived the war but at a devastating cost. Looking for revenge, she allows herself to be sold as a slave to infiltrate the Cumaean stronghold in Zamora. Once there, she uses her newly developed, terrible power to escape, free the captured Arcanics, and brutally attack the witch-nuns. She also steals a fragment of an ancient and powerful mask and murders a Cumaean elder who knows secrets from Maika's past. On the run from the Cumaea, the humans, and her own people, Maika must rely on herself and very few allies if she is to discover the secret of why her mother was murdered and, more important, who she is and what awful power she possesses. Collecting the first five issues of the popular comic, this is a beautifully written and complex book. Intricate and detailed, with a definite manga influence, Takeda's artwork creates a lush and dangerous world for Liu's equally dangerous characters. The work is infused with feminist themes; almost all of the characters are strong-and deadly-women. VERDICT Intended for mature audiences owing to the violence and nudity and filled with rage and barely contained fury, this is a book that will be wildly embraced by all fans of graphic literature.-Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX

Kirkus Review: When you're writing a review, 'speechless' can be a bit of a hindrance. So, I'm gonna work on that, find my words, and try to tell you about this book.

I fully admit, as I have a few times before, that the cover for Monstress is what drew me in and convinced me to purchase the book. The art deco background elements are so incredibly detailed and rich, reminding me a bit of my recent trip to Kansas city for WorldCon, where the downtown area is filled with art deco designs and buildings. There are hints in that background image - or maybe they're flavors? - of ancient mythology, perhaps Egyptian with the golden eye staring back at you - or something quite darker? And then there's the figure of Maika Halfwolf looking over her shoulder in a very manga-inspired character style yet covered in those same art deco elements climbing up her white robe or dress.

I was doomed. Doomed to be unable to walk away from this book. Clever cover artist.

A couple posts ago, I talked about White Sands from Brandon Sanderson; an epic fantasy with a wide-sweeping scale. Monstress is no less epic in breadth and wonder, and, if it were published as a novel, would be the kind that doubles as a step-stool or spider-squasher. In a word: huge.

In Monstress, Majorie Liu has created something truly worthy of the word 'epic'. Following in the wake of a war between humans and Arcanics, we follow the one-armed Maika Halfwolf, a teenager filled with an anger she can't control nor truly fathom. She is on a quest to learn the truth about her past, her mother's life, and the final moments of the war between the races when a weapon of mass destruction went off killing everyone for fifty miles, forcing a ceasefire and a bit of a cold war. She allows herself to be taken captive and sold as a slave to the Cumea, a sort of scientific guild who experiment on Arcanic's like Maika. Not all Arcanics look 'normal' as Maika does, many share traits or forms with animals - fox tails, fur, etc.

Maika has a power she doesn't understand and cannot control. It seems to only appear when she's in mortal danger, and she counts on it now to save her before the Cumea can use her the way they have so many other Arcanics.

This is a dark world and full of danger, intrigue, and machinations. Maika discovers the past is not exactly as she remembered or understood it to be. Some see her as a monster, others as something to be used, and just about everyone wants to destroy her.

There's so much going on in this book, and much of it compressed into the first thirty or so pages as we're introduced to this world and its inhabitants. I admit having to go back and forth a bit to keep up with it all. Liu has developed a complicated and engaging world and filled it with a diverse cast of characters. The Arcanics come in all shapes and sizes and appear to be inspired by the mythologies of the world, including China and Japan. The Cumea - who are also called witches throughout the book - appear to draw their inspiration from archetypal evildoers from not just mythology, but also pop culture, manga, and anime. They have that over-the-top evil quality I'd expect from those sources. All in all, it meshes well the various cultures and styles - East and West - into a cohesive story that hooked me from the start.

The art - a lot of times the cover art doesn't necessarily represent the interior pages. Much to my delight, co-creator and artist Sana Takeda maintains the quality of the art from cover to cover. Page after page reflect the same style, detail, and density as that gorgeous cover.

Liu also uses the story to shed a light on racism, war, and gender roles - all in a fantastic way that pushes the reader to question assumptions and the status quo.

This is the kind of book you read and reread because there's always some new bit to discover hidden in the art or the dialogue. Highly recommend.--Patrick Hester

Top customer reviews

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Let me start this by saying I have never written a review on this site I actually cared to write, only out of respect for the vendors themselves. I'm writing this for the sheer beauty of this novel. My mother had lived in Japan and raised me with a lot of eastern principles and background, but in America. I love both western and eastern graphic novels. Ive never found something that so fully meshed what I love about both. The plot is lavish and fantastical, but is lacking a lot of the eastern slant towards fetishized sexuality and brash comedy (think manga's common x'd eyes and oversized heads, etc.). What is there is there purposefully. This story is beautiful, developed,intelligent, new, and just honestly unexpected. The book itself is higher quality than anything ive purchased in years. As an avid reader and writer, the book itself is important to me. The joy of feeling the pulp of the page disappeared as publishers stopped paying the money for the good paper. This book is three times the length of the average single volume western graphic novel and the pages are thick and strong, you can't help but give attention to it. It was the first thing I noticed. Where i had lost hope for the fantasy/scifi/steampunk genres in recent years as artists/authors got lazy and drew/wrote what we already knew, this is beautifully original and intricate. And it's 8 dollars. What. I dont even have words for that.

Wow! How have I been missing out on this awesomeness all this time? Having never before read a graphic novel, I was unsure what to expect from Monstress. Going in… I was hesitant. Coming out… I was in love. In love with graphic novels! Why did I wait so long, you may ask. Well, for whatever reason, I never really thought I could get into a graphic novel. I never knew what kind of amazing experience they could bring about. But I know now, and I’m super grateful I decided to pick this one up.

Monstress is a historical fantasy story set in Asia, with a strong Maika Halfwolf as our main character who is attempting to fight the connection she has with a powerful, evil being. That plot? Boy, that plot was intriguing. I found myself fully engrossed in the storyline. Liu definitely developed an imaginative creation that allows you to feel as though you’re a part of the story yourself.

The characters were all developed nicely, as well. I think the fact that this was a graphic novel helped with getting to know the characters on a personal level, as well as growing an emotional attachment to them. Being able to visualize and see them on the page, and watch their emotions and actions, was an incredible experience for me. There were so many characters that were just plain adorable… like Little Fox. I loved her cute little face! And I loved how Maika looked out for those around her. She was fierce and strong, but also soft and caring at the same time.

What I adored most about Monstress was the artwork. Absolutely phenomenal! The images were highly detailed and so vibrant, they seemed to jump right off the page. As I said, the plot was amazing, but to me, the artwork is what made the story. I have to give props to the talented artist who did such a wonderful job bringing this novel to life. I was enthralled… literally stopping to stare at the drawings for a while before being able to move on to the next page.

This was a very “graphic” novel. And when I say “graphic”, I mean not suitable for younger readers, or readers who are easily offended. The reason I say this is because there are many graphic and gory scenes, as well as profane language. This didn’t bother me, personally… but it may upset or bother someone else. So I just wanted to give a heads up on that aspect of the story. If this were a movie, it’d be rated R, for sure.

Monstress was without a doubt a five star read for me, and my absolute favorite read of February (possibly my favorite so far this year!) This was a brilliant start to the series, and I’m looking forward to continuing on with Volume 2. I’m sure it will be just as amazing as its predecessor. If you’re into graphic novels, or even if you aren’t!, I highly recommend this one. As long as you’re ok with the violence and language, grab a copy of this now!

First of all, the artwork in this is so breathtaking that it hurts. Its so dark, so beautiful, so detailed, and so immersive that there could have been zero dialog and I still would have paid to flip through this.

The tale weaved into this graphic novel is a dark, steampunky fantasy surrounding 5 races and a seemingly-endless war that, as always, revolves around pure power. The only thing that's different from any other usual story going down the same path is that this power is an old god--and they are all gone, just ghosts. Right?

The characters in this (specifically little Kippa and Ren) were nicely developed considering how much was going on. In didn't mind the jumps between past and present because I thought it was done pretty smoothly and it definitely added more substance.

The ONLY thing that kept me from giving this a solid 5 stars? The main character. I will definitely misspell her name so I'll have to come back and edit this later, but she rubbed me the wrong way consistently. Truthfully, she had the worst attitude, she seemed to feel pretty damn highly about herself and she was way too overconfident to the point of extreme arrogance.

Other than my dislike of her, though,, I enjoyed myself immensely! I highly, highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark stories, mythical creatures, action and talking cats. 💖

There is a kind of beauty of the almost gore violence contrasting with the silent and tense pauses.

I already knew the quality of Marjorie Liu for X-23, Wolverine's young female clone, so I got this volume. I mention X-23 because in both comics we have a strong female character that is positively female and strong without the need to weaken or wither the male characters. The art by Sana Takeda is a staggering discovery for me, dense drawings that express well what we would see if we would witness a war in fairyland, a land polluted by tensions building between different species with some old puppeteers pulling strings to their goals.

I was tempted to review this volume with four stars because somehow the story seems to evolve to the common plot, but that is something I want to discover in the next volume and the art is flawless.